The snowpack in Colorado is wind-battered, shaky and, as a result, just plain deadly, a host of of local, state and federal agencies warned today.

That warning should go without saying: four people were killed by slides in the Colorado mountains between last Wednesday and Sunday, just one short of a year’s average for the state.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center in Boulder is rating the danger as considerable on nearly all of state’s mountains from Durango to Steamboat Springs.

“Slopes that are close to sliding are just waiting for a trigger, such as a skier, snowboarder or snowmobiler,” Kelly Elder, a research hydrologist for the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado, said in a media release from the agency today.

Sunday, 13-year-old skier Taft Conlin of Eagle was killed when he and two friends hiked into a closed area of Vail Mountain. Two other teens were battered but able to escape the avalanche that was 300 feet wide and traveled 300 400 feet down the mountain.

Also Sunday, Christopher Norris, 28, of Evergreen was killed by a slide 40-feet-wide at Winter Park Resort, when he was skiing with his father-in-law.

Saturday, 24-year-old Tyler Lundstedt of Fort Collins was snowmobiling with his younger brother near Grizzly Creek in Jackson County when they got stuck and triggered an avalanche. His brother, Jordan Lundstedt, 21, was able to climb out.

Last Wednesday, 43-year-old Keith Ames of Aspen was killed by an avalanche while he was skiing with friends in an out-of-bounds area of Burnt Mountain near Snowmass. The Avalanche Information Center’s report of the slide, including video, is available here.

Nationally, an average of 25 people have died annually in avalanches over the past decade, according to the Avalanche Information Center’s count.

January is the deadliest month with 208 fatalities in the U.S. since 1950. February is second with 193, and March is third with 158, according to the center.

Between 2001 and 2011, Colorado was the deadliest state for avalanches, with 55 victims. Montana was second with 41, and Alaska came in third with 37.

Sadly, four Coloradoans who were sons, brothers and friends also became grim statistics this winter.

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